There’s plenty to celebrate for medieval manuscript enthusiasts with the recent additions to e-codices, Switzerland’s Virtual Manuscript Library. The digital archive has grown by 48 new manuscripts, including 30 from the 9th to the 15th centuries, offering yet another fascinating window into medieval times.
Since 2005, e-codices has been focused on digitizing manuscripts found and preserved in Switzerland. Now, with nearly 3,000 manuscripts from close to a hundred institutions, it’s one of the largest digital collections of its kind. The goal is to make medieval and select modern manuscripts from Switzerland available to everyone through a free virtual library.
As explained by Medievalists.net, the collection currently includes 2,894 manuscripts from 98 collections, with more to come. The project got off the ground with a partnership between e-codices and the Abbey Library of St. Gall, who helped digitize 130 manuscripts in the first phase.
Indeed, e-codices has been lucky enough to get support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and e-lib – Swiss electronic library. Thanks to this, e-codices has been able to expand to include manuscripts from all corners of Switzerland.
Here are some of the best new additions, as featured in Medievalists.net.
The Breviarium OFM – Ministerialbibliothek, Min. 101
This Franciscan breviary was created between 1482 and 1490. It features intricate marginal illuminations on biblical and hagiographical themes. It seems to have been made in Constance for a Franciscan convent.
Speculum Humanae Salvationis and De Passione Domini – Stiftsbibliothek Cod. Sang. 949
This manuscript includes a paper copy of the Speculum Humanae Salvationis, which was finished on April 30, 1388, by Johannis Phister de Gossow. It also has a second text from the same period.
Biblical fragments – St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 1398b.1
These 9th-century fragments were used again in later manuscripts and books. This collection now includes several such fragments, which will help us to study these ancient texts in the future.
The e-codices collection is committed to digitizing the rich medieval heritage of Switzerland so that it can be preserved and made accessible to all. This digital library connects the past with the present, continuing to inspire and educate with its wealth of historical documents.
